Medical Student Research Program

NIDDK Medical Student Research Program in Diabetes

Sponsored by the National Institutes of Health through the NIDDK, this program allows medical students to conduct research under the direction of an established scientist in the areas of diabetes, hormone action, physiology, islet cell biology or obesity at an institution with one of the NIDDK-funded Research Centers during the summer between the first and second year or second and third year of medical school. The Program helps students gain an improved understanding of career opportunities in biomedical research and a comprehensive understanding of diabetes, its clinical manifestations and its unsolved problems.

Since 2012, the DRC has supported 26 medical student trainees for summer research; 4-5 students participate each summer at each institution. The students have worked with a wide variety of clinical, translational and basic science investigators. Students spend 2-3 months at our DRC and receive a weekly stipend from one of our T32 grants. All students have presented a poster at the annual meeting held in early August at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. The UCSD/UCLA DRC is excited to continue to participate in this meaningful program, and has had a successful track record of providing productive research opportunities for medical students from across the country.

Potential applicants should visit the program website for more information: https://www.vumc.org/niddk/